This is me reviewing all the books I've read recently that aren't
Winter's Bone.
(Seriously - if I haven't brought to bear enough in the last review post I made:
Winter's Bone is
so good. It's good in a way that makes me want to watch the film for a fifth time, and makes me want to reread it and understand more and read up on Ozarkian tradition, and more in that universe - what happens to Sonny and Harold? Relatedly, if you've watched the film but not read the novel, read
THIS FIC, which draws on backstory in the novel but is a fic for the film; anyway it's great. Then come talk
Winter's Bone with me, omggg.)
Step-Ball-Change, by Jeanne Ray.
So Jeanne Ray is totally predictable and I
love it. Kind middle-aged lady who has one big driving passion (baking, journalism, dance, flowers)? Check! Beleagured husband in public service? Check! Self-absorbed younger daughter? Check! There are usually a couple of sons hanging around here, too. And then SOMETHING HAPPENS, and everyone gets through it with humour and grace, and people learn a couple of things about themselves and their family, and people grow closer together. This is kind of the novel version of The Cosby Show. Not that I've ever watched The Cosby Show, so I probably don't know what I'm talking about. /o\
( light spoilers )The Body in the Library, by Agatha Christie.
Reading this made me kind of sad because in my head Miss Marple is my favourite detective
ever, but I don't think I enjoy the novels she's in that much, if that makes sense? Anyway, this was pretty underwhelming even if it was really clever (I totally should have caught the Big Clue in the middle, argh); maybe because the setting (a hotel) just didn't do it for me and neither did the characters, perhaps Agatha Christie was still trying to get a grip on the kind of Middle England As Narrated By Miss Marple she was trying to depict here (this was only her second Marple novel, after all), or maybe because
( spoilers start here, I guess )The Mysterious Mr Quin, by Agatha Christie
I'd read and loved the Harley Quin stories in
Problem at Pollensa Bay but this collection as a whole didn't shine for me? I think it takes remarkable skill to sustain a universe in which the supernatural is an expected and reliable element (as it must be, in detective fiction) because the whole point of the supernatural is to be unpredictable. So... kudos to Agatha Christie, I guess. This format, especially when repeated throughout the entire collection, just isn't an inherently successful one, I don't think.
( the ending is kind of amazing though )Anansi Boys, by Neil Gaiman.
DUDES I CONFESS. Totally missed the Neil Gaiman bandwagon! Never read anything by Gaiman besides
Good Omens and
Stardust, picked this up, totally loved it - I've been told
American Gods is even better, which makes me writhe in glee and anticipation. For some reason, after reading
Good Omens, I'd come under the impression that Pratchett was responsible for the funny parts and Neil Gaiman was responsible for the myth-y bits, and came away from
Anansi Boys totally surprised at how funny this was. WHY DOES NO ONE EVER TELL ME ANYTHING?
( seriously )So THAT IS THAT. I am now reading Orhan Pamuk's
My Name Is Red, though very slowly and warily (scarred forever by
The White Castle tbh) and liking it a lot so far. When we next meet up,
forochel is lending me Lord of the Rings! THAT'S RIGHT I AIN'T EVER READ IT BEFORE.
extemporally: forever a handful of decades behind the pop culture curve.